Smashbox Master Class: Color Theory Palette Review + Swatches

Before I jump into the review, I would just like to quickly discuss the deal that this palette is. Firstly, you get 16 eyeshadows, 3 blushes, 3 highlighting creams,contour creams, and 4 color correcting creams. The color correcting shades and the contour shades are the same formula as the companies color correcting sticks and contour sticks; they are just all in one palette. The worth of the creams alone makes up the general price, and the other half of the palette are basically freebies. Now, time to review.

The palette is in a book format. Either side has an inside pocket with instruction cards on the basics of color correcting and contouring, and look suggestions. What I really appreciate about this palette is that each side has is own clear acrylic top, so it protects the creams and powders from mixing. So even though the palette is a little bulky, this feature makes the space it takes up worth it.

Eyeshadows

Sand, Totally Nude, Nectar, Almond

Truffle, Light Wave, Sunrise, Sunlight

Optics, Metallic Violet, Metallic Bronze, Metallic Brick

Nocturnal, Blackout, Santra, Backliit

As I said above there are 16 eyeshadows. Since these eyeshadows (in my eyes) are freebies, I had really low expectations for them. But, they are actually pretty decent. The shimmer and metallic shades are better formulated as they are more pigmented. Yet, the mattes make of for the lack of pigmentation (see Blackout) as they blend really well. My favorites shades from this palette are Totally Nude, Optics, Sunrise, and Metalic Brick. I feel the palette is a good for Summer to Autumn as it offers the golden goddess shades but has enough cooler shades to give edgy look options.

Blushes

Candlelight, Carnation, Spectrum

There are two mattes and one shimmer. To be honest, the pan size is very small and the blushes are VERY close to the darkest shades. The matte eyeshadows (i.e. THE BLACK AND DARK BROWN) can be somewhat powdery so I would be careful and make sure none of those colors end up in the blush. These blushes aren’t mindblowing, but they work and do their job pretty well.

Correcting Creams

Lavender, Green, Peach, Orange

I’m personally not into color correcting, but what I can say are these colors are very creamy and blendable. My only tip is to start with a little because if you apply too much color then you won’t be able to cover the color corrector.

Contour Creams

Contour, Bronze, Highlight

I REALLY enjoy these contour shades. I haven’t touched the highlight shade (as you can see, it’s not really a highlight on my pale ass face) but despite how dark the contour color is, it’s a really nice product. I applied it with a synthetic concealer brush and blended with a beauty blender. These products blend SO nicely onto the skin and give you room to layer to the desired opacity. I would recommend these for fair to medium skin tones as the contour shade is not suited for ebony or darker skin tones.

Highlighting Creams

Luminous Pink, Luminous Gold, Luminous Peach

These highlight shades are what I imagine the BECCA poured cream highlighters are like: subtle. These are not going to give you the Instagram glow but are very natural and somewhat sheer. I feel that they gave a fairly good range for fair to medium skin tones to mix and match with. They would work really well under a powder highlight for a more dramatic glow, but they are very natural on their own.

Final Thoughts: “For the Newbie who wants to experiment”

If you have been wanting to try color correcting and cream contour but just haven’t committed, this palette would be a really good purchase. This would also be good for the traveling makeup junkie since it has a lot of basic items in one palette and would save space when traveling. Overall, this is a good palette and it’s worth the money, the real question is whether YOU find it necessary in your collection.